Written Answers Wednesday 5 January 2005

Scottish Executive

Early Years

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funds will be made available to early years child care and education programmes as a consequence of the recent spending review and on what basis any such additional funds will be allocated.

Euan Robson: Information on forthcoming spending plans is available in the Draft Budget 2005-06 , which is available as a publication on the Scottish Executive website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/db0506-00.asp.

  Further announcements will be made in due course about detailed spending plans.

Gaelic

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the proposed changes at BBC Scotland will have on Gaelic broadcasting.

Patricia Ferguson: Broadcasting is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Executive is responsible for funding the Gaelic Media Service. There is no reason to suppose that the BBC’s recent announcement implies any reduction in its commitment to Gaelic broadcasting.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has produced national guidelines for the promotion of rural home ownership grants.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The rural home ownership grants scheme was developed in April 1994 and national guidelines have been available since that time, with a recent reissue of promotional material in 2004. Information can be found on the Communities Scotland website at http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether levels of rural home ownership grant awards are altered to reflect fluctuations in property prices.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The level of grant under the rural home ownership grants scheme is determined by taking into account the total costs of providing the property in the particular locality.

Ministerial Committees

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8478 by Donald Dewar on 17 July 2000, whether it will list all current cabinet sub-committees and their membership and detail the number of times each has met in each of the last five years.

Mr Jack McConnell: There are currently four cabinet sub-committees:

  The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation was established in 2002. It met three times in 2002, six times in 2003 and so far has met three times in 2004.

  The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland was established in 2002. It met five times in 2002, twice in 2003 and so far has met twice in 2004.

  The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice was established in 2003. It met once in 2003 and so far has met twice in 2004.

  The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Local Government was established in 2003. It met once in 2003 and so far has met twice in 2004

  Details of the membership of the four current sub-committees are set out below.

  

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation 
First Minister (Chair)
Deputy First Minister
Minister for Parliamentary Business
Lord Advocate
Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business 


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland 
First Minister (Chair)
Deputy First Minister
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Minister for Transport
Deputy Minister for Communities
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Professor Jan Bebbington, Professor of Accounting and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews 
Simon Pepper, Director of WWF Scotland 
Ian Good, Chair and Chief Executive of the Edrington Group


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice
First Minister 
Deputy First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Justice
Minister for Communities
Lord Advocate
Deputy Minister for Education and Young People
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Solicitor General


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Local Government
First Minister 
Deputy First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Minister for Education and Young People
Minister for Transport
Minister for Justice
Minister for Communities 
Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

Ministerial Committees

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what cabinet sub-committees have been established since 1999, detailing for each sub-committee (a) the dates of each meeting, (b) its membership, (c) when it was established and (d) where it meets.

Mr Jack McConnell: There have been 10 cabinet sub-committees established since 1999. All meetings have been held in Edinburgh. The remaining information requested is set out in the following tables.

  

Title/Ministerial Members
Established
Date of Meetings


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Children’s Services (CSCCS)
First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Education and Young People (Deputy Chair)
Minister for Health and Community Care
Deputy Minister for Education and Young People
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services
Deputy Minister for Justice 
Deputy Minister for Social Justice 
19-12-2001 to March 2003
13-03-2002
01-05-2002
18-06-2002
24-09-2002
17-12-2002


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Renewing Local Democracy (CSCRLD)
First Minister (Chair)
Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice
Minister for Education and Young People
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Minister for Finance and Public Services
Minister for Parliamentary Business
22-01-2002 to March 2003
23-01-2002
25-02-2002
12-03-2002
17-09-2002


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Development (CSCRD)
Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Chair)
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
Minister for Finance and Public Services
Minister for Social Justice
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
23-01-2002 to March 2003
22-01-2002
15-05-2002
04-09-2002
05-02-2003


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social Justice (CSCSJ)
Minister for Social Justice (Chair)
Minister for Education and Young People
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
Minister for Finance and Public Services
Minister for Health and Community Care
Deputy Minister for Social Justice
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business
13-03-2002 to March 2003
13-03-2002
01-05-2002
18-06-2002
24-09-2002
17-12-2002


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Tackling Drug Misuse (CSCTDM)
Deputy First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Education and Young People
Deputy Minister (Mulligan) for Health and Community Care
Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
Deputy Minister for Justice
Deputy Minister for Social Justice
External Members
Mr Jim Orr, Director of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency
Mr Ian Ross, Drugs Action Teams Association
27-03-2002 to March 2003

27-03-2002
12-06-2002
03-09-2002
11-12-2002
18-02-2003


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Best Value and Budget Review (CSCBVBR)
Minister for Finance and Public Services (Chair)
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Minister for Parliamentary Business
Minister for Social Justice
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services
25-04-2001 to
13-11-2001
25-04-2001
17-05-2001
30-05-2001
18-06-2001
04-07-2001
28-08-2001
24-10-2001
13-11-2001


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation (CSCL)
First Minister (Chair)
Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice
Minister for Parliamentary Business (Deputy Chair)
Lord Advocate
Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business
06-03-2002 to March 2003
21-05-2003 to present

06-03-2002
30-04-2002
09-10-2002
08-01-2003
25-02-2003
27-05-2003
25-06-2003
13-08-2003
19-11-2003
24-03-2004
11-05-2004
09-06-2004


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland (CSCSS)
First Minister (Chair)
Deputy First Minister
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Minister for Transport
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
Deputy Minister for Communities
External Members
Professor Jan Bebbington, Professor of Accounting and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews 
Mr Kevin Dunion, Director, Friends of the Earth Scotland (until January 2003)
Mr Mark Hope, Director of External Affairs, Shell Expro (until March 2003)
Simon Pepper, Director of WWF Scotland (from March 2004)
Ian Good, Chair and Chief Executive of the Edrington Group (from March 2004)
05-02-2002 to March 2003
25-06-2003 to present
05-02-2002
26-03-2002
21-05-2002
26-06-2002
02-10-2002
15-01-2003
05-11-2003
10-03-2004
08-06-2004


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice (CSCCJ)
First Minister 
Deputy First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Justice
Minister for Communities
Lord Advocate
Deputy Minister for Education and Young People
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Solicitor General
25-06-2003 to present
04-11-2003
20-01-2004
01-06-2004


Cabinet Sub-Committee on Local Government (CSCLG)
First Minister 
Deputy First Minister (Chair)
Minister for Finance and Public Services 
Minister for Education and Young People
Minister for Transport
Minister for Justice
Minister for Communities 
Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services
25-06-2003 to present
08-10-2003
31-03-2004
26-05-2004

National Parks

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Antisocial Behaviour Orders have been served for offences committed in the (a) Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and (b) Cairngorms National Park.

Cathy Jamieson: Statistics on the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) served are collected at local authority level. National park boundaries are not co-terminous with those of local authorities. Each of Scotland’s national parks includes land within the boundaries of four different local authorities. The number of ASBOs granted in these areas over the period 1 December 1999 to 31 March 2004 are set out below. It should be noted, however, that these figures are likely to include ASBOs served in parts of these authorities which are outside the national park boundaries and thus tend to overstate the number of ASBOs granted within the national park areas themselves.

  (a) Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

  Total ASBOs granted 1 December 1999 to 31 March 2004 in Argyll and Bute, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire council areas = 28.

  (b) Cairngorms National Park

  Total ASBOs granted 1 December 1999 to 31 March 2004 in Angus, Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Moray council areas = 20.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what concordats have been signed with Scottish Power in respect of Whitelees Wind Farm and what the community benefit will be in each of the local authority areas affected by the wind farm.

Allan Wilson: The provision of community benefit by a developer is a matter for that developer and the communities concerned. The Executive has not discussed these matters with Scottish Power nor has it signed any concordats.